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Red Sox Overcome Shortcomings to Win the ALDS

One of the great things about baseball is the fact
that no matter how much you think you know what will happen, something usually
occurs that comes “totally out of left field”. Yankee-Red Sox series never seem to go as expected,
and the Red Sox win in the American League Division Series was no exception.

Photo courtesy of sportingnews.com

Going into the ALDS, the Yankees appeared to finally
be healthy and were peaking at the right time.I expected the Red Sox would at a minimum need J.D. Martinez and Mookie
Betts to continue their MVP candidate seasons, Chris Sale to overcome his
shoulder issues and return to dominance, David Price to shrug off his playoff
history and pitch effectively, one of the converted starters (Eovaldi,
Rodriguez, or Wright) to step up and be the long-lost late inning bullpen stopper, and
for Craig Kimbrel to be a lock-down closer getting four or five outs for the
save.None of these things happened, and
despite that failure, the Sox still took the series in four games.I'll admit it - I was wrong.

Martinez and Betts

Martinez appeared to rise to the occasion in his first
at-bat in the series, driving a three run laser over the monster to give the
Sox an early lead against JA Happ.After
that, Martinez was kept somewhat in check by the Yankees. While he still batted .357 for the series, he
failed to log another extra base hit or do serious damage with runners in
scoring position.

Betts never really got on track, slashing only
.188/.316/.250 after leading the league in hitting in the regular season with a
slash line of .346/.438/.640.Betts had
only three hits in the series, and looked very bad striking out twice in Game 4
in key situations.The Red Sox will need
more from him if the hope to get by the Astros in the ALCS.

Sale

Sale was good, but not great.His fastball velocity rebounded from the downward
trend he demonstrated in his late season comeback from the disabled list, but
he still could not reach the high-90s which are his trademark.Instead, he craftily mixed a mid-90s fastball
with his slider and changeup, changed speeds and locations for five shut-out
innings before running out steam and being lifted in the sixth with the Sox up
5-0 and a pair of runners on base, both of which came around to score thanks to
the ineffectiveness of the bullpen.

Price

UGH!After all
of his starts in the postseason in which he has failed to notch a victory, can
we just acknowledge that he does not have whatever it takes to pitch in the
postseason.The sample size is simply too
large to think otherwise. Let’s move on.

The Bullpen – Part One – Converted Starters

Confidence in the Red Sox overall chances in the
playoffs was low because of the struggles of the bullpen, which only became
worse as the Sox played out the string in September.All the angst and fear that has surrounded
the bullpen began to come true right before our eyes in Game 1 when Sale exited
and Ryan Brasier, Brandon Workman and Matt Barnes bumbled through the next
inning and two-thirds and the comfortable 5-0 lead quickly slipped to a 5-3
seat squirmer.

Heading into the eighth, many expected Eduardo
Rodriguez would get the nod to be the bridge to Kimbrel.But the first big surprise of the series came
when instead of E-Rod, Rick Porcello, who had been initially slated to pitch
Game 3, came in to pitch the eighth.Though
he recorded only two out before giving up a single and was quickly replaced by
Kimbrel, the move was an indication both that Alex Cora had no faith in his regular
relievers, and that he was also willing to win by any means necessary.

Rodriguez was brought in to Game 2 with the Red Sox
trailing 3-1 in the sixth and bailed Workman out of a jam with two runners
on.As promising as that may have been,
he forfeited all of it in the seventh when he gave up a single and a walk in
front of a three run blast by Sanchez that put the game out of reach and
effectively relinquished Rodriguez to mop-up duty.

Big surprise number two came in the eighth inning of
Game 4 when Cora went for it all and brought in Sale to pitch in relief.Sale got three quick outs to send the game to
the ninth with a 4-1 Red Sox lead.Although
the performers were not what was expected, the results were there and in both
cases set the Red Sox up for the victory.Unfortunately….

The Bullpen – Part Two – Kimbrel

Two converted starters were able to get the ball to
Kimbrel for a save opportunity, and both times Kimbrel was able to notch the
save.Mission accomplished?On paper, yes.In reality, near disaster.With a two run lead in Game 1, Kimbrel
allowed a lead-off homer to Judge to cut the lead to one.To his credit, he blew away the next three
batters to end the drama, but it was a harbinger of things to come.

In Game 4, with a three run lead and the series clincher
riding on it, Kimbrel imploded.He could
not find the plate with his fastball and once the Yankees realized that, laid
off his breaking pitches.Four pitch
walks to Judge and Voit, sandwiched around a Gregorius single and a Stanton
strikeout (another playoff puddle) loaded the bases.A hit batter and a sacrifice fly from
Sanchez, who just missed hitting a walk-off, cut the lead to just one.Kimbrel only escaped on a nice play by Eduardo
Nunez on a topper to third and stretch by Steve Pearce at first which, after
review, nipped Torres at first to end the game, the series, and the heart
palpitation of Red Sox Nation.

What Went Right - Part One - Nathan Eovaldi

I don’t know what happens when Eovaldi faces
the Yankees.It may be revenge against
his former team, or something else entirely, but he has dominated the Yankees
this year.His start in Game 3 shut down
the Yankees after their power display in Game 2, but his performance was
overshadowed by the offensive explosion of 16 runs.The decision to go with Eovaldi in Game 3,
bypassing Porcello, proved to be exactly what the Red Sox needed to regain the
momentum in the series.Which leads to
the next topic.

What Went Right - Part Two- Alex Cora

Despite
cruising to 108 wins in the regular season and an American League East
Championship, many questioned if the rookie manager was ready for the playoff spotlight.He quickly proved that he was up to the task
when he went out of the box to use Porcello out of the bullpen in Game 1, and
again when started Eovaldi on the mound and inserted Rafael Devers and Brock
Holt into the lineup in Game 3 to face Severino, despite Devers’ and Holt’s combined
1 for 27 history against the Yankee ace.Devers had a pair of hits and an RBI, and we all know what Holt accomplished.These moves helped switch the momentum after
a disappointing loss in Game 2, and fueled the offensive explosion that
resulted in a 16-1 thumping.

Less heralded, but equally noteworthy, was the switch
from Sandy Leon to Christian Vazquez behind the plate.Though Leon is outstanding defensively, and
has been the personal catcher for both Sale and Porcello, Leon offensive
struggles have been historic ion the second half.Vazquez is a minimal drop-off defensively, and
while he has also not had a good season offensively, he is an upgrade from Leon
at the bat.Vazquez contributed a pair
of hits and an RBI in Game 3, and a Yankee Stadium homer in Game 4 which proved
to be the eventual game winner.

Cora is taking risks, and they’ve been paying
off.The continued use of starters pitching
out of the bullpen is a risky move early in the playoffs.He was fortunate to close the Red Sox closed
the series in four games and did not have to bring Sale back to pitch Game
5.

Memorable Moments

Two items from Game 2 that may have been overshadowed
in the loss was the effective relief pitching efforts from Brasier and Joe
Kelly.Kelly may have faced the scorn of
Red Sox fans even more than Price this season, but he turned in two and one
third scoreless innings in relief of Price, keeping the Red Sox in the
game.Brasier followed with another scoreless
inning which was memorable when he showed some grit in demanding Sanchez to “get
the f@(% in the box” to hit and followed it up by blowing him away with a fastball
to end the ending.A couple more moments
like that, and there may be Ryan Brasier Fight Club shirts popping up around
Fenway.

Look Ahead

Now that the Red Sox have exorcised their first round
demons, it is on to the ALCS to face the defending champion Astros.This Astros team is loaded, but like the Red
Sox, is somewhat lacking in the bullpen.Cora knows the team well, having been their bench coach last season, but
it’s going to take more than that for the Red Sox to get to the World Series.What that will be exactly, I have no
clue.I was wrong about the Yankee
Series - and I’m okay with that.

Follow
Bill on Twitter @BTravers_BSoT.

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